Interested in Public Relations, Talent Relations, and Declare Yourself?!

Declare Yourself has another volunteer opportunity coming up! Follett Higher Education Group and Declare Yourself have partnered to sponsor a voter registration drive and bipartisan awareness campaign at select Follett managed bookstore locations across the U.S. Partnering up with ABC Family, stars from the hit TV show Greek will appear at select stores to help increase awareness of the campaign and drive in-store voter registration. Appearances by castmembers will occur in August and September.

Wearing a free Declare Yourself VOTE t-shirt, volunteers will help register people to vote and work with castmembers during the event.


Confirmed stores and dates include:

TBD 23 - Cal State Northridge

Monday, Aug. 25 - Notre Dame (South Bend)

Tuesday, Sep 2 - Florida State (Tallahassee)

Wednesday, Sept 3 - University of Florida (Gainesville)

Friday, Sept. 5 - University of Oklahoma (Norman)

Monday, Sept. 8 - Cal State Sacramento

EMAIL DECLAREYOURSELF@GMAIL.COM IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING!

Today's Top Quotes

1."A lot of people think he is hollow. When he ran as a pro-life candidate but would not change abortion law.... Then he says I'm also against the death penalty but then when people support it he says he will sign death warrants. Then on stem cell research he says I'm pro-life. He will execute people despite his moral objections but he won't allow stem cell research? He just won't take a principled stand..." – Writer Ben Tribbet commenting on Virginia Governor Tim Kaine’s career since his ascension on Obama’s VP shortlist.


2."I will be asking Chairman Conyers to consider legislation to ensure that the politicization of hiring of career employees at the Justice Department never happens again." Speaker Nancy Pelosi states in reference to claims that the Bush administration hired and fired lawyers based on Bush loyalty.

3."Instead of conducting witch hunts, we should consider bipartisan legislation to reduce the price of gas, reduce crime and secure the borders." Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the top panel Republican, attacking the Democrat-led effort to cite former top White House aide Karl Rove for contempt of Congress for failing to appear at a July 10 hearing on allegations of White House influence over the Justice Department.


4.I would remind you, I said we would have an easy victory. We did. – Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain referring to the Iraq War on Larry King Live

Nigel's Shoutout!

Did you hear Nigel give Declare Yourself a shoutout on So You Think You Can Dance this past Thursday?

Go Visit Remix America!

If you haven't visited Remix America yet, you should now! Partnered with Declare Yourself, Remix America offers the 21st century's digitally-competent youth a means of intertwining pop cultural and politics. Using vast archives of famous historical moments, YOU can make your own youtube remix.

Remix Describes it like this:

"RemixAmerica.org is a multi-partisan, non-profit website that uses digital technology to give everyone the chance to own the words, the music, the images and sounds of America in digital form; to remix those expressions and ideas with their own; and to send the products of our community's creativity out to the world... where others will come back to us and start it all over again..."

Go now to REMIXAMERICA.ORG

Declare Yourself at the NAACP Convention

Declare Yourself was present at the NAACP convention in Cincinnati, OH this week! We were registering voters and brough an original print of the Declaration of Independence to invoke civic activism! Check out the local news coverage!



Senators McCain and Obama both spoke at the convention. If you missed their speeches, you can watch them here:

GUEST BLOGGER: KELLY LITTLEFIELD

Thus far, the Great American Voter Trek has been both a phenomenal success and an incredible adventure for all of the riders. Whether it is registering 17-year-old twins in Syracuse who didn't realize they could register as long as they'd be 18 before the election, meeting Vermont transplants across the country (including a former baseball coach of a couple of the riders), or just the amazingly warm welcome that the towns we have passed through have shown us, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Max, the Road Captain, describes it as a "dream-come-true," and fellow rider Megan describes it as "unbelievable opportunity to see my country in a way that few people get to experience." While the concept and the route are amazing in and of themselves, the people are what actually make the Trek.

JOIN OUR STREET TEAM!

Declare Yourself is bringing our register-to-vote campaign to 6 Flags theme parks across the country! Join us in registering voters and spreading the word for the following dates and parks! DY Street Teamers receive free entry into the park on the day they volunteer, free access to the concert at the park, and free admission to the park for another time. Tell all your friends and email declareyourself@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering! Listed below are the parks, dates, and performers scheduled to play at the concert!

Six Flags Great America Sunday, July 20 Mario
Six Flags St. Louis Tuesday, August 5 Boys Like Girls/MTVU
Six Flags Great Adventure Sunday, August 10 Sean Kingston
Six Flags Magic Mountain Sunday, August 10 Raven
Six Flags New England Thursday August 7 Flo Rida
Six Flags Over Georgia Thursday, August 3 Artist TBA
Six Flags America Thursday, August 14 Flo Rida
The Great Escape Saturday, August 16 Artist TBA
Discovery Kingdom Saturday, August 16 Artist TBA
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Saturday, August 16 Artist TBA
Six Flags Over Texas Sunday, August 31 Boys Like Girls/MTVU
Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Saturday, August 16 Artist TBA
Six Flags Fiesta Texas Monday, September 1 Boys Like Girls/MTVU

The New Yorker and Obama

Sunday's edition of The New Yorker magazine ran a cover featuring Barack and Michelle Obama which has been marked “offensive and tasteless” by both the Obama and McCain camps. While staff members from the magazine intended the depiction to be satirical, portraying the two as enemies of the United States, the Obamas found the cover in poor taste. The presumptive Democratic nominee is clad in Middle Eastern attire and a turban, while his wife wears an Afro hairstyle and has a machine gun slung over her back. An American flag burns in the fireplace behind them and a picture of Osama Bin Laden hangs on the wall. Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton released a statement noting that, "The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Sen. Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create, but most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."

Although Mr. Burton’s comments were seconded by McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds, media pundits view Obama’s reaction as over the top; Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page cited that the newspaper “is just lampooning all the crazy ignorance out there." Conservative talk-show host Joe Pagliarulo agreed. He stated that, "I think this could be a very positive thing for the Obama campaign. I think they've got to embrace this and say 'Look, there are rumors out there.' I talk to people every day, like Laura does. People really do believe ... that he's a Muslim. They believe he was sworn in on the Quran. They believe that his wife is unpatriotic and so is he."

What do you think? Has The New Yorker gone too far, or is it revealing ignorant political rhetoric?

2008 Electoral Map

With the election season heating up, analysis regarding swing states and independent voters dictates much of campaign rhetoric. Will Florida vote for McCain with the influence of McCain supporter Governor Crist? Is Colorado a toss-up, as the state is comprised of one-third Democrats, one-third Republicans, and one-third Independents? Can Obama mobilize large African-American populations in southern states and change the color scheme on the electoral map? If he does garner their vote, will it be enough to win Virginia or Georgia? What about evangelical voters – How will they vote? Obama has spent a large portion of his time on the campaign trail speaking to evangelical leaders to prove his religiousity, while McCain has stumbled into an uneasy relationship with the religious right. However, it is still unknown whether or not Obama’s efforts will help him to collect evangelical votes; his views on abortion and gay-marriage consistently become a troubling factor in the relationship between Barack Obama and the evangelical right. CNN.com posted the 2008 electoral map with insight into red states, blue states, and everything in between. Electoral votes associated with each state are listed as well.

You can check it out here: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/10/electoral.map/index.html